July Cup preview and Saturday selections

The Coral Eclipse gave a 16/1 winner for this column with Mukhadram taking victory in a race that suited his style perfectly. Reverting back to a front-running style, he took the lead at the final bend and was uncatchable as the jockeys who had sat in the pack left themselves far too much to do.

This weekend's big race is at Newmarket on Saturday with the July Cup Group 1 taking place and it is a 6 furlong sprint full of talented horses.

Slade Power is the favourite for the race and comes full of form from his victory at Royal Ascot and is a perfect 2/2 this season.

Due Diligence trailed Slade Power at Ascot, but not by much and it is a horse that should improve for the run. Aljamaaheer is a top quality horse who has dropped back to sprint races this year, he was 3rd at Ascot and may just lack the pure top speed of the very best sprinters.

Spanish raider Noozooh Canarias returns to England after a fine 6th in the 2000 Guineas and the drop in trip to 6 furlongs will suit the horse who is apparently in fine form. Both Sole Power and Hot Streak prefer the shorter distance sprints over 5 furlongs, Sole Power may not run if the rain continues to fall, and with Hot Streak being beaten over 6 furlongs towards the end of last season by Astaire, the each-way value would be for Astaire in that case.

An interesting horse in the race is the American horse Undrafted, who is named after his owner Wes Welker, who went from a player who was not picked in the NFL Draft to becoming one of the best Wide Receivers in the NFL. The horse itself is talented and has taken a Group 3 race over this distance at Belmont, but is unproven on the softening ground.

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